Beauty and beast

1994/06/01 Elosegi Irurtia, Migel M. Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Zoologia

Who walks in the chicken coop creating that turmoil and scandal? In the luminosity of the night Moon, without being frightened by the barking of the dog, a shadow like a long cat has jumped the barrier and takes a hen by the neck. The Caracas and the cries of the hen have been useless; the relentless tooth of the heron has immediately defeated its prey. Suddenly, hearing our sound, he went into hiding without letting go of the hen.

Life is not usually easy on the mountain, much less when you have to feed the young or endure cold and hard winter fasting. Animals such as the heron perform numerous hunting sessions to bring something to the stomach, obtaining the bad results more than desired. In such situations, the herons lose all their shame and visit exceptional hunting places like the corrals, trapping everything they can.

Apart from the hatred that these attacks on domestic animals can cause, the grapefruit is a smart and elegant animal. Next to the virgin, of great size, dwarf, otter, badger and similar, has been classified in the family of the mustelids, all of them with short legs of five fingers, long body and teeth of two teeth in the upper jaw. The length of the body of this brave hunter is usually 42 to 55 cm and the tail 22 to 30 cm, weighing 1.2 to 2.2 kg. Short triangular head, long and solid neck and wide and short legs. It has dark brown eyes and cutting fangs that allow you to easily tear the pieces of meat. The skin of this much appreciated predator is as white as snow until the beginning of the buds, chest and forelegs, with a light brown or brown color in the rest.

La Garduña lives in almost all of Europe, except in the British Isles, Scandinavia and the Mediterranean. In Euskal Herria it is also widely distributed. It can appear throughout the territory, especially in forests, rocky escarpments, bordas and surrounding villages rich in dens. Our tireless hunter sets in motion as soon as it darkens, throwing all night in search of mice, rats, frogs, insects, eggs, birds, blackberries and other fruits. This animal is not so cruel as to drink and leave blood to some chickens or pigeons, as some claim, and despite the numerous and hard attacks it can make on poultry farms, it does a thank-you job controlling the populations of rodents that make up most of its diet.

For the implementation of the property and limits of a territory of 50-300 hectares, the scent marks established in rocks, trunks or other visible places are used, indicating their owner to the species that approach. Although during walks and especially during hunting you can climb to the trees, the heron is a terrible living animal. The movements of the animal are quite different, with long and flexible bodies, and with short legs, jumping more than running.

The heat of this mustard usually takes place in summer and after copulation the process called delayed gestation is performed. In this process, the development of the embryos remains paralyzed for a few months so that the birth of the young occurs between 8 and 9 months later, in the following spring. But in the months of January and February it can also be a zeal, after 2 months of normal gestation the female was raised in a rocky hole with 3-7 children. The female is in charge of giving the breast and caring for the offspring, which will open the eyes after 35 days. Breastfeeding lasts two months and after the third month, in summer, the offspring are hunted with their mother until they become completely independent. Life is 10-12 years and have passed 2-3.5 years and have arrived sexually.

Although today the heron is an abundant and common animal, its number fell considerably a few years ago. Both the heron and many other animals of this type were considered as harmful animals and were hunted with extricnine, shotgun, traps box, loop, etc., allowing all means of elimination. In addition, the precious skin of the grapefruit cost a lot of money and 50 years ago, as selling a skin you could get between 1,000 and 1,500 pesetas of that time and more, in those years many people began to hunt these “fierce”. Fortunately, due to the low value of the skins and the protection granted by the law, today this activity has practically disappeared, being able to increase the populations of garduña and other animals.

Technical information Garduña Species: Tuesday foinFamily: mustelOrder: carniosClass: mammals